Chapter 45

Sheila, Vera, Paige, Randy, and Eric stood on the deck of the Jezebel and took in the sea and sky one more time before heading to the airport.

“I’ll never forget the way the sky looks here. The color, the light,” Sheila said. “I’m so glad you all came.” She wrapped her arm around Vera. “You too.” She wrapped her other arm around Eric. “Stick around, Eric, for more craziness.”

She was so thrilled that they’d made up last night while Vera was in the powder room.

“I’ve been thinking,” she said. “I hope you’ll accept my apologies for what I said the other day. I’m really happy that you are in Vera’s life.”

“I’d like to apologize, too,” he said to her, leaning in and grinning. “I’ll try to be aware of girl time.” He kissed her cheek.

“Thanks for bringing us along,” Paige said to Sheila. “It was . . . an experience. But I really can’t wait to get home.”

“Oh, I know. I miss Lizzie and Mama and the mountains and the snow,” Vera said. “But this has been a once in a lifetime trip. Of course, we could have done without the murders.”

Sheila grimaced. “I hear ya.”

“You know, I wish I could have continued with my investigation, talking with all the single men,” Paige said. “I felt so ill. But it was fun pretending to be single for a while.”

“Mother!” Randy said.

She shrugged and walked toward the elevator. “Your mother still has it going on,” she said, looking over her shoulder. “Deal with it, Randy!” She laughed and Randy grinned.

“Well, all right then,” he said, grinning and following her.

Once at the airport, the group navigated their way through security and on to the plane without much ado. Within a few hours, they were back to Virginia, with its snowy mountains welcoming them from the air, offering their own beauty and light. Sheila once again found herself amused by travel—a few hours ago she stood on the deck of the Jezebel overlooking a beautiful glassy sea. Now they circled the Blue Ridge Mountains, waiting for clearance to land.

She should have been thrilled to be getting home. A part of her was, of course, but she still had lingering strange feelings about the cruise. She supposed she’d get over it at some point, but tripping over Allie, finding out she was murdered, being questioned by the FBI, them keeping her scrapbook for evidence—it was a lot to process. Not to mention that the name Sharon Milhouse had come up. That brought back horrible memories that she hadn’t thought about in a long time. Of course, it had to be another Sharon. The Sharon she knew was sick and in the Richmond Institution. Or at least that was the last she’d heard of her.

“So which job are you going to take?” Vera said.

“I won’t be working for Theresa Graves, I can tell you,” Sheila responded. “After all that heckling. And she was standing there with that weird dude.”

“Wonder what happened to him,” Vera said. “I didn’t see him at all after we left the island. Maybe he stayed there.”

“As long as he’s away from me, I don’t care where he is,” Sheila said.

“I just have to say wow, my eyes have been opened to the scrapbooking industry,” Paige said. “It’s so competitive. Who would have thought?”

Sheila thought a moment. “I suppose you have that in every business. Allie seemed to be the type to pay it forward. She loved my designs and seemed like she was really interested in helping me along.”

“It’s a shame what happened to her,” Randy said. “I hope they find her killer.”

“Now that the FBI is involved, maybe they will,” Vera said.

Except for Randy, who had to get back to his job in New York City, the group had a two-hour drive from Dulles International Airport to Cumberland Creek, where their families all waited with bated breath.

When Steve opened the door to their home, Sheila fell into his arms and unraveled. It was too much. Too much. All of this: the excitement, the murder, being away from home. She enjoyed being respected for her work, but she hadn’t realized how much she missed home and her husband until that very minute.

“So glad you’re back,” Steve said.

Jonathon came running through the hallway and attached himself to both of them. “I missed you, Mama!”

Two of their other kids were sitting at the kitchen table and barely rose to give her a hug. High schoolers. They were way too cool to make a fuss over their mother. But Sheila could see it in their eyes. They were glad she was home, too.

She surveyed her house. Things looked pretty good. The boys had kept up with the housework, though, of course, the place still needed a good vacuum and dusting, and she didn’t even want to look at the laundry or in the pantry. She knew Steve hated grocery shopping.

“I missed you, babe,” Steve said to her later as they readied for bed. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling better,” she said. “I missed you, too.”

Steve was already in bed and he lifted the blanket and nodded for her to snuggle up. Which she did. Quite happily.